In an article shared by the Nairobi Woman Rep, Esther Passaris, who had sponsored the Public Order (Amendment) Bill 2025, she announced that she had decided to pause the bill’s pre-publication process.
The Bill, which had received nationwide backlash, was meant to ban protests within 100 meters of Parliament, courts, and the State House, imposing jail terms of up to three months or fines up to Sh100,000 for breaches.
It also grants the Interior CS and county governments the authority to designate demonstration areas.
According to her, the decision came in response to calls from the National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) and other concerned voices, particularly as the country prepared to mark the Sabasaba commemoration on July 7th.
Open to Dialogue
She stated that this pause was intended to create space for national dialogue and wider public participation, with the aim of co-creating laws that both uphold the rule of law and maintain public order.
Passaris expressed appreciation to the NCCK for defending civil liberties and urged religious leaders to promote a higher standard of moral dialogue. She emphasized the importance of peaceful protest, lawful civic engagement, and respectful disagreement—principles she said were rooted in both faith and democracy.
She further noted that a just society could not be built through force or fear but through accountability from both leaders and citizens. In an expression of hope about the national conversation, she mentioned the need to move away from confrontation and toward collaboration and dialogue.
In other news, Kenyans had planned to recall her by collecting the required number of signatures as stipulated in the constitution. The mobilization had already started on various social media platforms. According to some sources, this might have contributed to her pause on the bill as she reconsiders other options.
As Kenyans remembered the spirit of Sabasaba, she called on everyone to move forward not with anger, but with shared responsibility to secure the nation’s promise of prosperity.
